August 31, 2012

Married on this date
Happy Anniversary, Lois and Lee Morrow!

190 years ago
1822

Born on this date
Fitz John Porter. U.S. military officer. Major General Porter was a career officer in the U.S. Army, serving in the Mexican-American War and American Civil War. He was court-martialled and dismissed from the Army in 1863 for his actions in the Union Army's defeat in the Second Battle of Bull Run (1862), and spent the next 23 years trying to clear his name. Maj. Gen. Porter was exonerated by a special commission in 1878; in 1886 he was restored to his commission, backdated to 1861, but retired two days later, having been vindicated. Maj. Gen. Porter co-founded the Military and Naval Order of the United States in 1894, and received its first insignia. He died on May 21, 1901 at the age of 78.

125 years ago
1887

Baseball
The New York Metropolitans became the first major league team to use 5 pitchers in a game when they were beaten 25-11 by the Louisville Colonels in an American Association game.

80 years ago
1932

Baseball
Kiki Cuyler's fifth hit of the game, a 3-run home run into the center field bleachers in the bottom of the 10th inning, gave the Chicago Cubs a 10-9 win over the New York Giants at Wrigley Field in Chicago. The Giants had scored 4 runs in the top of the 10th to break a 5-5 tie.

75 years ago
1937

Baseball
Rudy York hit 2 home runs and 2 singles and drove in 7 runs to lead the Detroit Tigers to a 12-3 win over the Washington Nationals. Mr. York's homers were his 17th and 18th of the month, breaking a record for a single month set by Babe Ruth in September 1927.

60 years ago
1952

Died on this date
Henri Bourassa, 83. Canadian politician and journalist. Mr. Bourassa, a native of Montreal, was a Liberal and later an independent, representing the Quebec riding of Labelle in the House of Commons from 1896-1907 and 1925-1935, and sitting in the Quebec Legislative Assembly from 1908-1912. He was an ideological father of French-Canadian nationalism, and opposed Canadian involvement in the Boer War and World War I. Mr. Bourassa founded the Montreal newspaper Le Devoir in 1910, and served as editor until 1932. He died the day before his 84th birthday.

Baseball
The Montreal Royals swept a doubleheader from the Baltimore Orioles 6-5 and 8-4 to clinch the International League pennant. Tom Lasorda was the winning pitcher in the second game.

50 years ago
1962

World events
Trinidad and Tobago gained independence from Great Britain.

Football
CFL
British Columbia (2-3) 10 @ Edmonton (3-2) 22

Johnny Bright rushed 18 times for 95 yards and a touchdown to lead the Eskimos to their win over the Lions before 14,500 fans at Clarke Stadium. Mike Lashuk rushed 13 times for 71 yards and a touchdown, with the other Edmonton touchdown coming on a 5-yard pass from Jackie Parker to Bill McKenny. Mr. Parker also rushed 6 times for 47 yards. Tommy-Joe Coffey converted all 3 touchdowns, and Vic Chapman punted for a single to complete the Edmonton scoring. The Lions' lone touchdown came in the quarter on a 10-yard pass from Joe Kapp to Jim Carphin. Tom Larscheid led the B.C. ground game with 10 carries for 90 yards, while teammate Mack Burton led all receivers with 82 yards on 6 receptions.

Baseball
Dick Donovan improved his record for the season to 18-7 and hit 2 home runs as the Cleveland Indians beat the Baltimore Orioles 9-6.

40 years ago
1972

Olympics
Olga Korbut of the U.S.S.R. won two gold medals and a silver medal, while East Germany's Karin Janz won two gold medals and a bronze medal in women's gymnastics competition in Munich.

Baseball
The Detroit Tigers bought veteran first baseman and left fielder Frank Howard from the Texas Rangers. Mr. Howard had led the American League in home runs as a member of the Washington Senators in 1968 and 1970, but after hitting 44 homers in 1970, his output had dropped to 26 in 1971, and just 9 in 1972 with the Rangers, who had moved from Washington after the 1971 season.

30 years ago
1982

Hit parade
#1 single in Sweden (Topplistan): Cat People (Putting Out Fire)--David Bowie

Protest
The latest in a series of anti-government demonstrations in Warsaw was quelled by police using tear gas grenades. There were also reports of clashes in Gdansk, Wroclaw, Krakow, and Nowa Huta, as well as several smaller towns.

Scandal
The United States Justice Department concluded its investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct between members of the U.S. Congress and congressional pages, stating that the probe had found insufficient evidence to prosecute or continue the investigation. The House of Representatives Ethics Committee investigation would continue.

Science
Hidemi Ishida of Osaka University in Japan and Richard Leakey, director of the National Museums of Kenya, announced in Nairobi that a fossil jawbone found in Ethiopia by a Kenyan fossil hunter might be as old as 8 million years old, and that it had come from a human-like creature. Its importance lay in the fact that the remains of the oldest known human ancestor, a 4½-foot-tall creature that walked on two legs, were only 4 million years old. The new discovery possibly filled an important gap in the primate record.

25 years ago
1987

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Australian Music Report): The Loco-Motion--Kylie Minogue (4th week at #1)

Died on this date
Dick Young, 69. U.S. sportswriter. Mr. Young joined the New York Daily News as a messenger in 1937 and began writing for the paper five years later. Mainly working the baseball and boxing beats, Mr. Young was credited with being the first sportswriter to go into the locker room in search of information. His column, titled Young Ideas, ran in his paper and in The Sporting News, which is where this blogger regularly read it. Mr. Young jumped to the New York Post in 1982, where he worked until his death. He was inducted into the writers' wing of the Baseball Hall of fame in 1978.

Law
The draft of a new constitution for South Korea was completed. The president, who would serve a five-year term, would be chosen in a direct popular election. He could not dissolve the National Assembly, and could declare martial law only with difficulty. The military would be kept neutral in politics, and some new legal rights, including habeas corpus, would be recognized.

Disasters
All 83 people aboard a Thai Airways jet were killed when it plunged into the Andaman Sea.

At least 50 miners were killed near Welkom, South Africa were killed when an explosion in a gold mine caused an elevator to fall more than 4,000 feet down a shaft.

Baseball
The Toronto Blue Jays traded minor league player Oswaldo Peraza and a player to be named later to the Baltimore Orioles for veteran pitcher Mike Flanagan. To make room for Mr. Flanagan, the Blue Jays released 48-year-old pitcher Phil Niekro, who had pitched in just 3 games for the Blue Jays after being acquired from the Cleveland Indians.

20 years ago
1992

Scandal
The Brazilian Congress began impeachment proceedings against President Fernando Collor de Mello. Mr. de Mello, who had been elected on an anti-corruption campaign, had been found by a Congressional investigation of being aware of an influence-peddling racket and doing nothing about it.

Baseball
The Oakland Athletics traded outfielder Jose Canseco to the Texas Rangers for outfielder Ruben Sierra and pitchers Jeff Russell and Bobby Witt.

10 years ago
2002

Football
CIS
Calgary (1-0) 28 @ Alberta (0-1) 26